Black girls CODE aims to bridge the STEM divide

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Savannah Jasper ,11, left, works with teammates Nina-Marie Rice, 10, second from left, and Masiyah Devoe, 11, right, during the Black Girls Code summer camp on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. About 75 girls took part in the two week camp learning robotics, how to create websites, and mobile applications. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Campers work on a project during the Black Girls Code summer camp on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. About 75 girls took part in the two week camp learning robotics, how to create websites, and mobile applications. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND >> Nina Marie Rice, a soft-spoken 10-year-old with long braids, said she often feels like an outsider as one of only two African-American kids at her Christian school in Alameda. She’s also a science nerd, which means she gets picked on a lot.

“I like to stay late after class to study my math and science because they are my favorite subjects,” said Nina Marie, who is going into sixth grade. “Boys mock me because they say math and science aren’t girl things. They’re for boys, but I don’t listen.”

Nina Marie found her tribe during a two-week-long Black Girls CODE summer camp. The nonprofit brought 75 girls of color ages 10 to 17 together at Redwood Day School to introduce them to STEM careers and give them skills training. Most of the participants received scholarships to cover the $300 cost.

The girls learned about robotics, web design, mobile app development, virtual reality and 3-D printing. They had a coding session at Dropbox and met employees at YouTube, Apple and Electronic Arts, the interactive game publisher. On a visit to the San Francisco Delta soccer team, they learned how coaches used technology to train the players.

Veronica Turner, 11, said the summer camp gave her a chance to learn coding skills that weren’t taught at her public school.

“I’ve been coming to Black Girl CODE events ever since about three years ago when I got interested in how computers and robots work,” said Veronica, who is going into seventh grade. “I’d like to be able to make helpful robots, like say, if someone can’t mow the lawn, I can put a sweeper with a blade — that’s got kind of like a shock collar for a dog — so the robot would know not to go off the grass.”

Black Girls CODE was founded in 2011 to help prepare underrepresented minorities for well-paying jobs in the science, engineering and technology fields. Launched in Bayview Hunters Point, Black Girls CODE has chapters in 11 cities, including in Johannesburg, South Africa. The nonprofit has trained 8,000 girls and some boys through camps, workshops, hackathons and other programs.

Founder and CEO Kimberly Bryant, who is African-American, said she started the nonprofit because of her daughter Kai. She was attending a summer science program at Stanford University that taught kids to code. Bryant didn’t want Kai to feel as culturally isolated as she did as one of the rare black women studying electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University in the 1980s. Bryant said she eventually found a mentor, an older African-American female student, who became a role model.

“When you don’t see a reflection of yourself, it makes you feel like you don’t belong in these spaces,” Bryant said. “With Black Girls CODE, we see mentorship as key because when these girls are going into these fields where there are not a lot of black women, it’s important for them to see others who have done it and walked the path.”

Her daughter, Kai, is now a volunteer at the summer camp.

Bryant’s mission is to reach 1 million girls by 2040.

But her vision goes beyond creating a new generation of technologists. She said she wants to develop leaders and agents of social change in their communities.

The summer camp also incorporates a social justice component. The younger Oakland campers visited Acta Non Verba, a youth urban farm project in East Oakland where they learned about food deserts. There are also health and wellness workshops.

Amber Morse, West Coast coordinator for Black Girls CODE, said the participants come from many backgrounds.

“You might have some kids from Head-Royce and then maybe also some kids from Castlemont. They’re able to interact and know that we have so much in common even though we may not be exposed to the same things,” Morse said. “And we’re building friendships and relationships on top of that.”

Elisabeth Melakuem 17, lives in Vienna, Austria. She went to the summer camp while visiting Bay Area family for two months. Back home, she said, she is one of two black girls in her high school of 1,000 students, which specializes in information and technology education.

“I think this is really cool because a lot of young girls don’t get this opportunity,” Elisabeth said. “We have eight classes in one grade at my school, and only one has some girls.”